The Beldam (Other Mother)
The Other Mother (also known as the Beldam) is a shape-shifting entity who can transform into any mother in order to lure kids into the other world that she created. In order to entice and lure the kids she created beautiful things in the other world that contrast the dull and boring things of the real world. She tricks kids into agreeing to let her sew buttons into their eyes in order to consume and steal their souls, like she did with the three ghost children. She appears as the children's mother, but her true form is tall and lanky, with claws for hands and a face seemingly cracked like porcelain and the counterpart to Coraline's real Mother Physical Appearance The Beldam's appearance had never really been very specific. In the book and film, it is said and shown that she looked like Coraline's mother, which presumably is what she does to lure children. The Beldam must have taken the form of the children's mothers in order to gain their trust, fooling them into believing her lies. First Form When first met by Coraline, the Other Mother strangely had the same appearance of Coraline's mother, Mel Jones. Except: her physical attributes were better than the original, such as, being prettier and healthier, wearing red lipstick, a more stylish haircut, a mole right above her lips, red nail polish and a lack of bags under her eyes which were replaced by black buttons instead, and more accented curves (mainly due to the lively clothing she wore, unlike the real Mel Jones, whose appearance was rather dull.) In the book, the Other Mother was described as such: She looked a little like Coraline's mother. Only . . . Only her skin was white as paper. Only she was taller and thinner. Only her fingers were too long, and they never stopped moving, and her dark red fingernails were curved and sharp. This in-book appearance has a similarity to her second form in the film. Also, her voice changes as she yells at Coraline. They actually don't show the mother when the Other Wybie shoves Coraline in the exit back into the real world. The Other Mother starts to change as the button shadow of the moon rises. Second Form After Coraline refused her love and said that she was not her mother, the Other Mother stood up and transformed into a longer and more terrifying version of herself with her rib cage showing. Her hair had also become quite unnerving, and the back had turned pointed. Furthermore, her fingers became much longer and her nails had become sharply more pointed and her mole/beauty mark got a little bigger and moved to edge of her face. Third Form A terrifying skeletal spider-like creature, whose face is noticeably cracked and hands turned into tiny sewing needles neatly connected to one another. Her hair sharpened significantly, and her overall posture is lanky and keen. Powers and Abilities The full extent of her abilities have yet to be revealed, but it is clear she has near omnipotent (and mild omniscient) power over the Other World and all of its inhabitants. She has the power to create life, ranging from people to animals and fully animate plant-life. How they behave seem to depend, as the animals and plants seem to be under her full control, while certain human-creations like the Other Father and Other Wybie have some kind of free will. It is implied that she hand-made the Other World in the same manner as an artist and a sewer would, every living thing in the Other World possessing button-eyes and other Wybie's hand being made of sawdust beneath his glove. The Beldam is also apparently able to kidnap and temporarily store the parents of her victims, as Coraline's parents were held captive by the Beldam in the The Snow Globe, and emerged without any memory of the experience. She has the power to shape-shift, first taking the form of her victim's mother (albeit more lively and inviting) and slowly transitions into her true form overtime, slowly deteriorating like the rest of her creations. It is shown that her buttons operate as fully-functioning eyes, becoming blinded and relying on the vibrations of her web and her sense of hearing to navigate when the cat clawed them off. She is also able to possess the souls of those she has claimed, the ghosts of her previous victims trapped in the Other World unable to pass on. Despite her immense powers, her abilities clearly has their limits. Apart from her creations acting upon their own free-will should they try it - nearly compromising her plans on more than one occasion - she is also unable to replicate the key to the doorway in and out of the Other World, having become trapped when Coraline locked the door forever. Beldam History and Folklore Beldamn, or Blle-dm is another word for witch or hag, although the two are not exactly the same thing. A beldam has been referenced in several legends across the globe. A reference to Romanian folklore is made at http://comenius-legends.blogspot.com/2010/07/v\alva.html : " God gave Beldam (Muma Pădurii) the designation to stand for the forest and inhabitant away from people unkindness. The Beldam is a spirit of the forest in a very ugly and old woman's body. Sometimes she has the ability to change her shape. She lives in a dark, dreadful, hidden little house. In time, however, the Beldam started to hate foolish people increasingly because they have destroyed what she was trying to defend. If she primarily scared and ran them out, altogether she got to kill indiscriminatingly those who she has met walking in the forest. The Beldam had a girl, The Forest Girl (Fata Pădurii). She is a demon who attracts the young people in the forest, where she kills them. She has two appearances: for the first time when she appears to them, she is a young and very beautiful woman. After the victim is charmed by her beauty, the Balder transforms into a hideous and tremendous monster, she kills the young and eats his heart because only like this she can keep her youth appearance. She came out only at night and she never gets out the forest, so she never attacks the people villages but only those who pass through the forest. " There is also a legendary figure known as Goody Cole who was said to be a Beldam. The source for the story is here. http://www.sacred-texts.com/ame/lol/lol146.htm. It would appear that the location for the film could be an adaptation of a valley in Yosemite, which can be connected to the image in this story, as found on the link provided. These references shared themes with the story. Themes include: shape-shifting, child destruction, and being buried in a pit (well). The writing of Coraline may have taken some essence of this legendary figure into the construction of the antagonist. Quotes *"You're just in time for supper dear!" *"We've been waiting for you, Coraline." * "Black is traditional... But if you prefer pink, or vermilion or chartreuse... though you might make me jealous." * "They say even the proudest spirit can be broken, with love." * "In each of three wonders I've made just for you, a ghost eye is lost in plain sight." * "So... you're back. And you've brought... vermin with you?" * "Don't leave me! Don't leave me! I'll die without you!!!!" (Last words) * "You know I love you..." * "You horrible cheating girl!" Trivia * The name Beldam might have been taken from the French word belle dame, which means "beautiful woman". However, there are other connotations such as belle-mere which literally translates as "beautiful mother" but also means "step mother," and the archaism that means "witch". * The Seamstress in the film 9 was a nod to the Other Mother in Coraline. Both films were created by Focus Features. * It could be possible that, since her creation, the Beldam relies on the souls of the children to continue existing, to the point that she becomes increasingly desperate and more impatient to get Coraline to sew the buttons on her eyes. This is shown when she screams that she will die due to not getting Coraline. *The Other Mother was #9 on IFC's list of Worst Mothers in movies. *Teri Hatcher describes The Other Mother as the perfect opposite of Mel Jones, she can cook and do many other things Mel can't. Teri said it was fun playing a character who starts out nice then becomes not-so-nice. *Whenever the Other Mother prepares regular human food, it is shown that unlike Coraline and the Other Father, she is not shown eating any of it, either having an empty plate or having no plate at all, preferring to keep her attention on Coraline. The only time she is ever shown eating in the book or movie is when she eats a live cocoa beetle(s). This could allude to her spider-like qualities, having an interest in bugs and viewing Coraline as her willing prey. *In the novel, Coraline admits that The Other Mother did truly love her though like a dragon loves its gold. *The Beldam, in the climax of the film, she calls Coraline a "horrible, cheating girl". Which is quite hypocritical, considering that she attempted to do so. *A Youtube channel called The Theorizer has proposed the idea that the Beldam could have had a son, and that it could have been the Boring Blue Boy in a painting in the Pink Palace in both worlds. * Beldam could also be a type of play-on words of the word bedlam. Meaning pandemonium or disorder. This could make some sense, as when the other world turned gray and lost its splendor, the house was describes as being like a charcoal drawing of a house by an ametuer, with crooked lines and warped looks. * A Youtube channel, the Fangirl says that some mythical creatures inspired some of the Beldam the most logical one is the Jorõgumo a Japanese creature who is pure female and can turn from a human like spider to a pure human to trick others after a spider turns 400 years old and gains magical powers.Also she says the Beldam also takes inspiration from the Native American creature, the Wendigo, which is a symbol for hunger and cannibalism. Ironically, it used to be human before it became a cannibal and transformed into a deer like monster. Category:Characters Category:Spider-like Category:Villian Category:Other World Category:Deceased Category:Female Characters Category:Beldon Category:Minor Characters